Sassy & Sweet Notes

Farm Update!

When I posted about my 2 year blogversary, I never expected to have such a fantastic and warm response to the farm updates. Thank you! I am SO glad you enjoy them. It really feels GREAT to know that not only do we love our wacky little farm, but you appreciate our efforts as well. Thank YOU!

With that in mind, yesterday evening I slipped out to the barnyard to see what I could see and I thought I'd give you an update on the goings-on out there!

Dixie Cup and Cleo are growing like weeds! Pictured above is Dixie Cup and here mama, Dixie. Cup is growing up to be a beautiful little heifer. Remember when she was born, she was as black as black can be? The sun has slowly bleached her dark black baby hair to be a beautiful reddish brown color. Her hair will be dark black again after she sheds out her baby summer hair. Too bad too, because both her and Cleo are as pretty as can be with their auburn colored coats.

Here's Dixie Cup again with an apparent itch on her hiney. I was surprised to see that her tongue is two very different colors on the top and bottom. Who knew!

She found a stick quite interesting and a little bit tasty.

What I find interesting about Dixie Cup is that while she refuses to let us touch her, she finds us completely fascinating. She watches our every move. She's gonna be a wild one for good, I think (just like her mother...).

This is one of my favorite photos from the evening. It started out as Cup (left) investigating some of the weeds in the pasture. It wasn't long before Cleo (right) decided to join her. Cup, who is two weeks older than Cleo, looks to be nearly twice the size of little Cleo. But both of them have the beautiful coloring from the sun, though both of them really are black cows.

Here's Cup again, checking out more weeds. Fascinating weeds...

Cleo must have decided that she was NOT going to cooperate for our little photo session. Here's the only other photo I was able to get of her. Her face is much more feminine than Cup's face. It will be fun to see how pretty she gets as she grows up. I'm hoping she grows up to have her mother's temperament as well.

As for the baby chickens, they're also growing like weeds! Here's one of the Red Frizzle babies, looking every so lovely in her frizzled out feather-do. Even the feathers on her head are frizzled! If you raise chickens, no matter how many, I highly recommend raising a few frizzles. They have so much personality and are so fun to watch! I could spend hours watching them run from one side of the chicken yard to the other - and back again. We purchased our Frizzle chicks as day-old chicks from Ideal Poultry. Very healthy birds, and though 25% of Frizzles won't actually have the flipped, frizzled feathers, 5 of the 6 chicks we received in our order do. The one chick that doesn't have the flipped, frizzled feathers, is still a beautiful chick with unbelievably soft feathers! I'll try and get a photo of her soon... she's a beauty!

Here's one of the Red Silkie chicks. This is the first time I've ever raised Silkies, and they are a bundle of energy! I love how it looks like she's wearing fluffy white slippers on her feet!  In this photo you can see that the skin of Silkie chickens is dark, not white or yellow like most chickens. You can also see in this photo that Silkie chickens have two toes that point backwards, in addition to the three toes that point forward. Other chickens have three toes that point forward, and only one toe that points backwards. How's that for some chicken trivia!

Princess (our fourth Dexter cow expecting a calf this year) is starting to look like she's contemplating having her baby soon. Her baby will for sure be black, but we're hoping that she has a little heifer this year. Last year, she delivered Ribeye, our little (and I'm not joking when I say LITTLE) polled bull (polled means he is naturally horn-less). We're keeping Ribeye for breeding (being polled is a GOOD thing!), as he's quite a charming little fella to have around. Princess is our prettiest cow, and we'd like to see her good looks passed on to a little heifer. Here's hoping!

Life on the farm... good, clean (?) fun.

Happy Friday!

Zippidydoodah!

This is Zippidydoodah, one of the smallest chicks from our McMurray Hatchery chick order. I felt this little one deserved it's time in the blog spotlight. This little chick is sooooo stinkin' CUTE with it's LONG feet feathers (see them sticking way out to the side!) and black and copper colored feathers. In this photo, she (hopefully!) is sitting on Alan's finger. Big time cute factor! This is a Mille Fleur chick, who will grow up to be either an itty bitty bantam sized hen, or itty bitty bantam sized rooster.

Hot, hot, HOT!

This weekend has been hot, hot, HOT! Phwew. I'd welcome the cooler temperatures (and lower humidity) of the northwest right now. While the sunshine is nice, it's just WAY too hot. Thankfully, we've got AC in the house, so when the heat outside gets to be too much, we can retreat to the house for a cool-down.

I've got dinner on the stove, so while we wait I thought I'd post a few photos I took earlier this evening. We've FINALLY decided on a name for our new little black Nigerian Dwarf goat. She'll now be Maggie. It's a cute name, and it suits her. She has white on three of her feet and on the top of her head. She loves to sit in Alan's lap...and as you can see by this photo, she's always got something on her. Dirt, hay, alfalfa...whatever she can get into. Today, alfalfa.

Callio-Pea stayed busy today as well, nibbling on a tree that's in the goat yard. She's no dummy.... the tree's in the shade, and right next to one of their water buckets! A nibble on a shaded tree and a nice refreshing drink - what more could a girl need on a hot, sunny afternoon?

Betty stayed cool in the shade, too. Well, after she had to sit in my lap, chew on my pants, the straps on my shoes, my camera strap, and my shirt. All that work really wears a girl out. Looks like it wore Betty out too! *grin*

Hope you've enjoyed your holiday weekend!

A side note: Typepad has recently made some changes to their hosting service. Some of the changes are good, but there's one that I'm NOT thrilled about. Seems that they're now significantly reducing the quality of the resized images added to a post. It used to be that when I placed in an image that was a smaller version of the original, the quality was still great! Now, the resized versions are really rough, and grainy! ARGH! So, please hang in there with me while I find a work around for this new "feature". Until then, click on the images to see a larger, better quality image.

A visit to Pride of Texas Ranch

Earlier this evening, Alan and I took Alan's parents out to Pride of Texas Ranch where we were picking up two Nigerian Dwarf goat kids who are now old enough to move to our farm.

The first time Alan and I went to the ranch to meet the goats and see if they had any babies we wanted to purchase, I didn't take my camera and regretted not having it once we got there! So today, I took my camera!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the short time we were out at their ranch today.

Not only do they raise Nigerian Dwarf goats, but they also have a herd of Miniature Zebu cattle, which are BEAUTIFUL animals! They've had a few calves born on the ranch in the past month, and I was able to get a few photos of the little ones. Isn't this little fella just the CUTEST thing, standing with his mama!

The goats were all beautiful as well. The mamas are well kept, well fed, and as friendly as can be. Look at these three, watching us inside the barn. I think they're hoping for an early dinner handout. The bucks are kept in a separate area on the farm, away from the ladies, so they can manage the breeding program. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the fellas. They are all quite handsome though!

The babies were full of enthusiasm and happy to see us (I'm sure they are happy to see all visitors!) They love to rub their heads on our legs, nibble on our shoe laces, and tug on our shirts. When you're surrounded by cute babies, it's tough to decide which babies to take home. At one point, I told Randy (the ranch owner) I'd take one of each. *grin*

Randy shows a true appreciation and affection towards all of his animals. Not only do we appreciate his wonderful critters, but we also appreciate his willingness to share information. He wants his animals to go to the best homes, and we're delighted to have a couple of his 2008 babies.

I'll share more info on the babies we did bring home with us a bit later... What a fun evening!

Cleo

Cleo is a sweet baby! Queenie allows Alan and I to touch Cleo, but watches us to make sure we don't do anything to harm her baby.

Today I was able to rub Cleo all over, including her cute little belly! So far, she's a LOT friendlier than Dixie Cup, which isn't hard to do since Cup is WILD and CRAZY. (Cup is 16 days old now, if you can believe it!)

Cleo spent most of today napping in the sunshine while Queenie snacked on grass and hay. It was pretty hot here (low 90s), so napping in the sunshine wasn't hard to do. I took these photos this evening as the setting sun's rays were starting to be filtered by the haze from the humidity.

Queenie stood nearby while I snapped the photos, and occasionally checked on Cleo (usually putting slobber on her head).

Queenie is proving to be a good mother. It's unfortunate she lost her calf last year and didn't have the opportunity to raise her first born. She's very attentive, and quietly moos at Cleo throughout the day. I think things are going just perfectly!

Here's are two photos I took yesterday evening, when Cleo was just a few hours old. She was still pretty wobbly on her feet, but I'm still amazed at how quickly she was up and at 'um!

I'm in a photography group and there are personal photo assignments that we're issued topics for. The last topic was Fine Art (remember my rooster photo?). The new topic is "Relationship". I think this will be a great topic for me, especially with all of the new babies on the farm!

I can't believe we have two MORE cows expecting as well! Princess is due next, followed by Pixie later on. It's so exciting!!

Princess delivered a bull calf last spring (named Ribeye). We're crossing our fingers and toes that she delivers a heifer this year.

Princess is a BEAUTIFUL cow, and we hope all of her babies are as pretty as she is.

Today: Queenie. A Mother.

Amazing. Life on the farm today was nothing short of amazing.

2:15pm
Alan and I went out to the barn to check on the baby Turken chicks we moved down there earlier this morning. When we entered the barnyard, we both noticed that Queenie was acting a little "odd" - not her usual self. We quickly realized she was in labor. Serious labor. She was standing and doing some pretty good pushing and heavy breathing. Delivery would be soon.

Very soon!

It wasn't long after when little white hooves started to emerge. Queenie was trying to find a comfortable place to be, whether standing or laying, laying or standing. Finally, she found a perfect spot to lay down.

2:50pm
After what seemed like forever to us (imagine how she felt!), out slid her baby!

We couldn't believe our timing! We could have EASILY missed the entire scene! But we didn't, and it was a beautiful thing! She had her baby in the middle of the day, in the middle of the barnyard. We watched the entire delivery, and we even captured some little video clips I'll share later.

The baby was trying out its legs within 15-20 minutes, and was firmly latched onto "lunch" in less than 30 minutes.

Amazing.

And even better, it's a little heifer! She'll grow up here on the farm, eventually to have her own babies. We're just thrilled! Congratulations, Queenie! And how fitting, on Mother's Day weekend!

Little Brown Hen COULD!

A big HUGE congratulations to Little Brown Hen, who hatched a turken chick today! Turkens are not a cross between a chicken and a turkey, even though that's what they sound like they might be. They are also referred to as Naked Necks. The breed originated in Germany. They are good layers (they lay brown shelled eggs), and at least on our farm, they are quite prolific!

Cute Wild Kitties

We have a real wild mama cat who lives here on the farm. We haven't been able to catch her and get her to the vet yet. Her name is Damn Cat for that reason.

Last fall, Damn Cat had three kittens. We've been able to catch one of the kittens (Shazam) - and we've only been able to do it once. But once was enough to get her to the vet to be fixed! This is Shazam. Still wild as can be if we get too close to her. She will come up on the patio to eat but dashes off if we get to close.

The sun was peeking in under the covered patio, so I sat in a chair and just waited (camera in hand) for something to happen.

Shazam hopped up in one of the patio chairs in a spot of sun and decided it was a great time and place for a bath!

I got these two shots taken, and that was enough bravery, and bath, for Shazam.

Off she went.

Larry, another fairly wild kitty, found a place in the sun too, right next to my sad looking Petunia plant. She looks awfully cute. Yup, Larry's a she. Usually yellow striped cats are males, but we seem to have a high percentage of female yellow striped cats! Damn Cat included! And Curly! And Curly Too! Sometimes they get named before we learn if they're male or female. Sometimes, it's only when Uncle Mike (our vet) does surgery that we learn what gender they are...this is how Larry got her name. Oops!

All of the animals around here are very well fed. Wild cats included. These two don't really look all that wild in these photos, but I'd like to see you try and catch them! *grin!*

The cats are always very aware of where we are, and what's around them. And if one of us has a fish net in our hand, you can bet there won't be a cat in sight. That's ok with us though. As long as we can catch them at least once, that's all that matters. We'll get Damn Cat eventually.

PS: Thank you for all the kind comments about my photos. I'm so happy to know that other people enjoy them, as I do. I'm grateful that they allow me to share our life on the farm with you.

Some of you have written to me and asked about the camera I use. Here's some information I wrote last year about this time that goes into a bit of detail on my photo gear. Since writing that post, I've also added a Canon 180mm Macro lens to my bag, and a Canon G9 to my bag as well. I'm probably a junkie. *wink*

Enjoy what's left of the weekend!

Dixie Cup: 1 week old

We had a rain storm this morning, followed by an afternoon of sunshine. Days like this are the best. The rain pulls the dust out of the air, and the sunlight is crisp and clean. On days like today, with evening light so fresh, I can't resist taking photos around the farm.

Dixie Cup is 1 week old, and good grief she's WILD! She's got more spunk than we've ever seen in any of our calves. A true spitfire! But she's also as cute as they come! Maybe as she grows up she'll tame down a bit. While that would be NICE, I think it's highly unlikely.

Junior, one of the barn cats (Alan's favorite!), always helps us while we're feeding. This evening he was working hard at supervising while we fed the cows. Apparently I caught him during a break. Junior lives in the barn loft, so I know she's familiar with him. He must have been just extra fascinating today!

I am always amazed at how quickly animals grow, and how quickly they learn to be mobile. And SPEEDY! It's not the easiest thing to get photos of Cup. She's always running from one side of Dixie to the other -- and it's always the side I'm NOT on.

When she's not running around making our photo session difficult, she finds just the perfect spot of shade to lay down in, making our photo session even more difficult! Taking photo of a black cow in a dark spot of shade is a challenge. But even with all of her antics, every now and then I catch a good photo. And in evening light like we had today, I'm thrilled when things work in my favor! She does make me earn every shot, though!

Dixie, on the other hand, is happy just standing.

Watching.
Staring.
Waiting.
For feed.

Here's an ultra close-up of Dixie enjoying some corn. Mmmmm, corn.

More Milking Fun

Yesterday evening we had more fun on the farm, which included another milking of Dixie to again take some of the pressure off of her udder. She looks, and I'm sure FEELS, soooooo much better.

The first time we milked her, Dixie Cup spent most of the time in the barn out of sight. Not last night! Dixie Cup frolicked in the barnyard while her Mama was held captive in the chute being milked by Alan's dad, John.

Speaking of funny man John, I had no IDEA that milk being squeezed from a teat could travel upwards of 15-20 feet! Imagine my surprise when I got squirted while I was busy taking photos of Dixie Cup!

Thankfully, the sun was shining, and Dixie Cup stayed out of the shade! This makes for better photos! She has a habit of coming out of the barn, catching a snack from Dixie, and finding a nice shady corner and laying down. Such a stinker.

I've been updating my Farm Animal photo gallery. Take a look if you'd like to see more photos!

Oh, and by the way, University of Nebraska-Lincoln has chicks hatching today on their Egg Cam!